Standoff ends with peaceful surrender

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Van Wert man who was taken into custody after a Wednesday evening standoff.

Leonard DeLong surrendered peacefully shortly before 10 p.m. He had been barricaded in a home in the 100 block of E. Second St. for over an hour.

Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Adam Clark said the standoff began when deputies went to serve DeLong with a warrant for making terroristic threats, a third degree felony.

The warrant was tied to threats made by DeLong earlier in the day, after his girlfriend, Latricia Darst, had been sentenced to a year in prison for assaulting a Van Wert Police officer (see story below).

“He demanded to speak to her outside of visitation hours and when jail staff indicated that wasn’t going to happen because it was a violation of policy, he began making threats to set the jail on fire,” Clark explained.

Clark also noted DeLong surrendered after speaking with his lawyer. He was taken to the Van Wert County Correctional facility shortly after his surrender. He appeared for an arraignment hearing Thursday morning in Van Wert Municipal Court, where Judge Jill Worthington set bond at $100,000, with a commerical surety or 10 percent cash bond option. He’s scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 19.

In addition to deputies, Van Wert Police, Van Wert Fire & EMS and the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol were at the scene. Sheriff Tom Riggenbach and Van Wert Police Chief Doug Weigle each thanked the responding agencies as well as members of the public for their cooperation at the scene.